I ride the CWB hinge techs, great bindings. The velcro straps give you a nice tight fit, and the hinge tech is nice as well. Before these I had some hyperlite open toe bindings that were standard lace up, but I could never get them to feel as tight as I wanted, but the cwbs do. That being said I am about to switch to some closed toe bindings but the cwb bindings are great.

I picked up the Vapor on sale a couple months ago and they feel great except they are causing a heel bruise on my inside right heel. Can't really tell why. I picked up a used set of the LF Vantage and they are pretty good but not as easy to get in and out as the Vapor.

I like the idea of the CWB hinge bindings, but because of where they decided to split the sizes I can't use them. My foot size falls right in between the two sizes. The small ones are uncomfortably tight and aren't any easier to get into than non-hinge bindings, and the large ones are too loose.

The hinge seems like a great idea in theory for making a binding that is usable by everyone on the boat, but it would work much better if they had a binding that ran the middle range of common foot sizes rather than only having a size that fits small feet and a size that fits large feet.

I've put 1 full season on a pair of LF vantages. That are still in good condition and I have no complaints save one, which may be a problem with all open toe'd velcro boots but this was my first pair so not sure. After they wore in a bit and multiple people wore them on my boat, I would notice on my harder landings my forward foot would move forward in the boot and get wedged/stuck there. My heel wouldn't even be touching the back, so for the next 30 seconds I'd be working my foot backwards slowly in the boot beforeI could do another pass. I'll be using the vantages now only for cable park and no boat riding. My next pair of bindings are for my feet only.

I would like to know if this is an issue with all velcro open toed boots or just the vantages.

edit: and my feet are size 11 and vantages are 10-12, so right in the middle

The 2012 Transit is a great binidng. LF modified the plate system to give you an even better, more secure attachment point to your board. This minimizes heel/toe lift, which in turn maximizes response and performance. It's a fairly soft boot, so it's great if you wanna step up from an entry level to a higher end bindng w/o getting too stiif like many of the pro-model boots. It's also got the dual zone lace system so you can really dial in tightness on your foot and ankle depending on preference.
**Bonus** They come in two colors, red or blue so you can dial in your style too!! Hope this helps!

I think you've got the right idea by keeping your feet exclusive to your bindings. Even if your friends have the same size foot, I gurantee it's a different shape. This will cause the binding to get "packed out", much like a snowboard boot from a rental shop that's had a million different feet in it. The Vantage bindings do come in a size range, but since you're an 11 they should fit perfect. If you wanna go higer performance with a more size specific fit, check out the full line of 2012 Liquid Force pro model bindings. All are close toe with the exception of the B-1 (Bob's) and all come in a 10-11 vs. 10-12.